Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – No. 5 UC Irvine beat No. 9 Stanford, 3-1 (32-30, 25-18, 25-27, 25-22) at the Bren Events Center Friday night, clinching an MPSF quarterfinal home match.
The win combined with a UCLA loss clinches a home match for the MPSF quarterfinals next Saturday (Apr. 15). UCI will be the No. 4 seed and host No. 5 seed UCLA at 7:00 p.m.
The Anteaters improve to 18-6 overall and 12-5 in the MPSF and extend their winning streak to seven in a row. Stanford goes to 12-12 on the year and 7-10 in league action.
UCI out-hit Stanford .303 to .164 and had a season-high 16 blocks to the Cardinal 8. Aces were even at 7 apiece, while the Anteaters held a slight 35-33 edge in digs.
Junior Aaron Koubi led UCI with his third career double-double, posting 15 kills and 11 digs. Senior Tamir Hershko followed with 14 kills and six total blocks. Freshman Scott Stadick had a career-high nine block assists and 12 total blocks to go with seven kills. Setter Michael Saeta recorded six kills, 51 set assists, three aces and seven digs, while senior Thomas Hodges added nine kills. Middle blocker Matthew Younggren had four blocks and hit .714 with five kills on seven swings and no errors. Libero Dillon Hoffman added nine digs and opposite Karl Apfelbach had five kills and two blocks.
Stanford's Gabriel Vega had a match-high 20 kills. Eric Beatty totaled eight kills and Kevin Rakestraw tallied seven kills and a team-high five total blocks.
UCI created some separation in the first set with Aaron Koubi at the service line, winning four straight to move to 11-7. The Cardinal would claw back in to the set to tie it at 16-16 then move in front 18-16 with the help of three UCI attack errors. The Anteaters rallied to lead 23-20 only to watch Stanford tie it again at 23-23. A kill by Michael Saeta off the reception was followed by a Tamir Hershko kill to give UCI the 32-30 victory.
An ace and kill by Thomas Hodges pushed UCI out to an 8-6 lead in the second set. Three Stanford errors and a kill by Scott Stadick helped expand the lead to 13-8 and another four in a row, the last an ace by Saeta, moved the margin to 17-9. The Anteaters would win the set 25-18 on a block by Stadick and Hershko.
Stanford jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but UCI rallied on a 5-1 run to keep it close 7-5. Back-to-back blocks edged UCI to 9-10 then ace by Karl Apfelbach knotted the set at 10-10. The teams would battle back and forth until Stanford scored the last three on a kill by Kevin Rakestraw, an Anteater attack error and an ace by Eric Beatty, 27-25.
In the fourth set, UCI went on a 7-0 run, using two Hershko kills, two stadick blocks and Saeta at the service line to open an 18-12 advantage. Leading 23-17, Stanford four unanswered to creep within 23-21, but a kill by Saeta stopped the momentum. Following a Cardinal kill, Saeta pounded the match-winner to give UCI the 25-22 set win and 3-1 match.
UCI recognized the 2007 NCAA Championship team during the match with several members and their families in attendance.
The Anteaters continue the celebrations tomorrow when UCI's five seniors will be recognized following the match against Pepperdine. The match starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
